My Newest

Here's the most recent addition to my growing toy collection, a Choro-Q firetruck. This one's #18 on the Choro-Q list, and it's my second Choro-Q toy, a very memorable gift from someone very special. Well, I'm glad that I now have all the firetrucks from the Cho-Q lineup. I'm hoping to get the police cars next time...

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Love Is...

Pik-One milk chocolate wafers...

... and butterflies!!! Three butterflies on a sunny Thursday morning...

I know I said three and only thought of two, so You immediately sent me the two, way long before the deadline I specified. Sometimes You do work in mysterious ways that's unique, overwhelming, and suprising. Gracias, Papa...

Pik-One photo courtesy of Christian Bering of http://www.flickr.com/photos/bering/

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My Favorite Pen

This Rotring Core Rubidium with an XL nib is surprisingly my current favorite pen. It uses cartridges instead of converters, and slurps up ink like a thirsty camel. So I stocked up on Inoxcrom cartridges, which surprisingly (and thankfully) fits this baby. This beauty is the fourth on my budding collection of fancy fountain pens, my first German, and my third red.

I am surprised that it has become my favorite writer because even if I collect them, I rarely use my fountain pens for everyday writing. My everyday, anyday writers are my 3-color Pilot G2 .5 set with some of the other gels (Uni Ball, Dong-A, Faber Castell, etc.) in my pen roll. I had always been faithful to my gels. This one, however, gave me something else: an instant connection the moment I inserted the cartridge with blue ink. And though it guzzles down ink like a leaking faucet, I just love its fat, broad, wet streak when I write with it. And perhaps its ergonomic grip, or the bright red of its barrel?

What is amusing is the fact that when I purchased this pen, I was meaning to buy another Rotring, the 600. But the store has ran out of them, and so I got what fancied my eye: The Rubidium.

And we had since been inseparable. At least for now.

Below are photos of how I wrote using my Rubidium.

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My Fountain Pens

I really do not know how I got into the hobby of fountain pen collecting. I know I have always preferred gel pens and ballpoints for my everyday writing. Perhaps my interest in getting more of these interesting pens started when my sister-in-law Jelyn gave me a Parker Vector a few years back. It was an interesting gift but not interesting enough that I kept the pen but didn't use it.

Months later, I went to attend a writing class and felt the urge to use the pen so I finally inked it and used it during our writing exercises.

My Parker Vector and my first bottle of Quink black.

Later on, when I got interested in buying Moleskine notebooks, I also became interested in getting more fountain pens. But I have just moved into my apartment and money had to go elsewhere and so I could not afford to add more to the Vector to start a collection. It was only until early this year when I was able to get another, a blue Inoxcrom Vivaldi. Even that cannot be considered a 'serious' pen by purists. Then again, I cannot collect vintage pens now. Not yet. So I focused on the 'fancy' types of fountain pens, especially the ones from Inoxcrom and Rotring.

Here are my Inoxcrom Vivaldis. The blue one has my name engraved on its barrel. I'll get the pink one later on to complete the trio.

And then two Saturdays ago, I went malling with a friend and got myself these three. (Yes, I got three fountain pens in a day.)

Top to bottom: My Rotring Core Rubidium, a red Inoxcrom Vivaldi, and a P-200, another Inoxcrom. Among the three, only the Rubidium has been inked.

Above are my five fountain pens. I'll be getting more later. More reds, more blues, more... Yellows? Greens? Basta more...

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A New Notebook

Here's the most recent addition to my growing notebook collection: a colorful notebook from Korea. The cover says it's a Study Planner, but actually I don't feel it is. The inside pages are divided into different colors: black, blue, and orange. The plastic cover has a button closure to keep the pages together. It's a fun notebook!

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From Serendipity

It's overwhelming what serendipity can sometimes do to us. Yesterday, while I was waiting for a friend, I went to a record bar to while away the time. As I browsed through records and movies, Michelle Krusiec's face greeted me.

I was speechless and motionless as I tentatively picked the DVD, but when I read the title, I almost jumped with joy. I've always wanted to have a copy of this Alice Wu movie for years now. And so I bought the DVD, watched it last night, picked up some touchy lines from Vivian (Lynn Chen) and Wil (Michelle Krusiec), and then I'll be watching it again tonight while I sip some lemon tea a friend sent me this morning.

Isn't it great?

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September 2

Everything in this world is just so tentative, so unsure, so uncertain.

Often, what is beautiful gets muddled by what is twisted and cruel. Often, what is good gets askewed by what is unkind and spiteful.

Ah, well. Nobody ever said that life is perfect. Or fair. Somehow, somewhere there will always be someone who is better and stronger, who is ready to outshine everyone, and always ready to beat anyone.

This is life's absurdity, its inconsistency. But somewhere in its paradox, lies the test, the beauty, that which is good. And so we remain in awe of this mystery called life.

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